Global Shares Mixed Tuesday

TOKYO (AP) --- Shares were mostly lower in Europe early Tuesday after a mixed day of trading in Asia as investors awaited Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's testimony to the U.S. Congress. The subdued trading Tuesday followed a dull session overnight on Wall Street.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.8 percent to 7,310.43 and the CAC40 of France lost 0.1 percent to 5,160.37. But Germany's DAX climbed 0.1 percent to 12,464.39. Wall Street also looked set for a lackluster start with Dow futures flat and S&P 500 futures less than 0.1 percent lower.

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ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6 percent to 20,195.48 on expectations the yen will weaken further against the dollar as the central bank strives to keep long-term bond yields low. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.5 percent to 25,877.64. The Kospi in South Korea climbed 0.6 percent to 2,396.00 while Australia's S&P ASX 200 edged 0.1 percent higher to 5,728.90. The Shanghai Composite index yoyo'd and eventually ended the day down 0.3 percent at 3,203.04, while shares in Southeast Asia were mixed.

YELLEN FACTOR: Traders are looking ahead to potential news out of the Federal Reserve when Yellen addresses Congress on Wednesday and Thursday. "We're going through a transition phase where interest rates and Fed policy were very friendly for quite some time and that was the most important support for the markets," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Baird.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 29 cents to $44.11 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It added 17 cents to settle at $44.40 a barrel on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 30 cents to $476.59 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 114.34 from 114.04 yen late Monday. The euro slipped to $1.1394 from $1.1400.

(KA)

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